The team

From technical researchers to paraplanners and amazing administrators, through our team you have access to a whole host of skills and qualifications. Consider them a bolt-on to your company, ready to support you and your clients.

Cathi Harrison

Founder & Director

Cathi is the founder and owner of Para-Sols; she has been in financial services since leaving university and holds both the Chartered and Certified Financial Planner status as well as being a Fellow of the Personal Finance Society.

Cathi splits her time supporting her team and clients, managing the strategy for Para-Sols and working on the exciting launch of our new sister company (coming soon!) Outside of work, she spends time cuddling her baby boy and travelling as much as possible.

Likes:

Cake

Sri Lanka

Stationery

Wine

Naps

Dislikes:

Peter Rhoden

Lead Paraplanner

Peter is based in our Darlington office and has over 8 years financial services experience, also holding his Diploma in Regulated Financial Planning. Along with the rest of the team, he spends most of his spare time on his studies! Although he also enjoys keeping fit and playing cricket for Hartlepool Cricket Club.

Likes:

Cricket

Football

Jagerbombs

Parmo’s (a Darlington / Teesside delicacy)

Holidays

Dislikes:

Kate Hall

Paraplanner

Following successful previous trials and internships, Para-Sols introduced and designed its own internal Graduate Scheme. Kate was one of the first successful graduates, and is going through an intensive programme of training to become a first class paraplanner. She is also studying for her Diploma in Financial Planning alongside this. Kate’s degree was in Zoology and she still retains an interest in this on a recreational basis, but has chosen to pursue a career that reflects her other academic interest of Maths.

Dislikes:

Jo Campbell

Director of Operations & Quality

Jo has been with Para-Sols since 2010 being our first full time employee! As well as the day to day paraplanning, her role includes managing the team and being the main point of contact for clients. Outside of work, Jo’s time is taken up with her two boys, attending many music gigs, and continuing with her financial planning studies as she is currently working towards both Chartered and Certified status.

In 2016, Jo won the Money Marketing Best Paraplanner award.

Likes:

Gigs/Live music

Reading Horror/Thriller Novels

Northern Soul

Tom Hardy

Bad jokes

Dislikes:

Sam Corner

Graduate Paraplanner

Sam joined us in May 2017 having been successful in applying for our dedicated graduate training programme – The Grad Scheme. With a 2:1 degree in Geography from the University of Salford, he has a whole host of transferable skills – including an analytical mind and report writing experience – which prove to be massively advantageous to his role. Despite his nickname ‘Sammy Sausage’, it’s bacon butties that make him smile but if you ever speak to him, don’t ever mention Hocus Pocus (the film) unless you’re prepared for tears!

Likes:

Golf

Running

Football

Bacon butties

Dogs (especially Greyhounds)

Dislikes:

Grant Callaghan

Head of Paraplanning

Grant heads up one of our hubs and took part in one of our first graduate internships. He was subsequently made a full time, permanent part of the team and embarked on our trainee paraplanner programme, very quickly completing his Diploma in Financial Planning and now working on his Chartered Financial Planner qualification. Outside work he particularly enjoys following football within all the major European countries. He is also desperate to finish writing one of the novels he has started although his continued studies somewhat hinder his progress!

Likes:

Arsenal

going to football matches

Writing

Suits (on TV and actual suits)

Italian food

Dislikes:

Bernie Jenkinson

Technical Associate

Bernie (not Barney, or Birdie or any of the other names providers call her!) has been with us since 2012. With a background in IT, Bernie is our systems expert, navigating around the various back office systems we use and helping advisers to populate them and use them more fully. Outside of work Bernie enjoys spending time with her many siblings, including her twin sister, has recently completed her NVQ and is now studying for her financial administration qualifications.

Likes:

Music and gigs

Meeting up with friends and family

Chocolate

Days trips out

Wine

Dislikes:

Kim Binks

Director of Client Relations

Kim is our Client Relationship Manager, who deals day to day with our existing and new clients to make sure everything is running smoothly and our advisers are getting the most out of Para-Sols. She went into a career in financial services after graduating with a degree in Accounts & Finance. Outside of work Kim loves to travel and enjoys getting out in the countryside with her dogs.

Likes:

Travelling

Wine

Countryside

Dogs

Thai Food

Dislikes:

Holly Johnson

Junior Paraplanner

Having joined the team in May 2017 as part of our graduate training programme, The Grad Scheme, Holly has a real desire to learn the nitty gritty of paraplanning. With 2:1 degree in History from Newcastle University, she is no stranger to a research task and has superb report writing experience. Forever with a smile on her face, she loves all animals, even the creepy crawly kind (we know, weird huh?) and duvet days spent in her pjs!

Likes:

Food

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

Bed days

Jammies (or otherwise known, pyjamas!)

Animals (even the creepy crawly kind)

Dislikes:

Rachael Wilson

Paraplanner

Rachael joined us in the Summer of 2016 after applying for our Graduate Scheme. She joined us fresh with the knowledge and enthusiasm university brings having just graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a degree in BA Accounting and Finance – and achieving a first class honours no less! Outside of work Rachael enjoys going to the gym (she’s a natural gym bunny!) and spending time with family and friends, especially when it involves food or something fun like theme parks or high ropes courses.

Likes:

Chicken

Prosecco

Hot sunny weather

Board games

Theme parks

Dislikes:

Cheryl Lunn

Head of Technical Research

Cheryl joined Para-Sols in 2016 and heads up our technical research team. With a strong administravtive background, has control of the administration side of the business, managing the data gathering process and training entrants to our graduate scheme on policy intricacies, and insurance company frustrations! Outside of work, she enjoys euro pop music (we don’t get it either!) and spending time with her little dog, Bobo.

Likes:

Music, or rather a good boogie!

Cheese

Sambucca

Comfies – more specifically a lazy day!

Alpacas

Dislikes:

Lee Hastie

Graduate Paraplanner

Lee joined the team via our graduate training programme, The Grad Scheme, in Summer 2017 having graduated from Northumbria Univeristy. With a 2:1 degree in History, he’s mastered the art of analytical thinking and carrying out focused research projects which is proving advantagous as his role develops. Financial planning runs in the family and his ambition and passion for paraplanning is clear to see – almost as much as his passion for all things football!

Likes:

Dogs

Football

Lucozade

Leonardo Di Caprio

His Nana’s Yorkshire Puds!

Dislikes:

Sunaina Khaylar

Graduate Paraplanner

Despite her tiny 5ft 1″ (and a half!) frame, Sunaina has a bucket load of energy which is one of the reasons that secured her success when applying for our graduate training programme, The Grad Scheme. Sunaina graduated from Nottingham Trent Uni with a degree in English & Linguistics so it comes as no surprise that she has a natural talent for all styles of writing, from informal blog-like articles to the more traditional structured style reports. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about her cheerleading skills where she tried, and failed, to make her mark in the University squad!

Likes:

Gym

Wine

Olives

Make-Up

Harry Potter

Dislikes:

Natalie Bell

Director of Culture & Engagement

Natalie joined the team at the beginning of 2017 and brings with her a whole host of creative skills – marketing strategy, brand and design, stakeholder engagement and event management. On a day to day basis, she’s the voice of our company twitter, blogs and articles and with an interest in generational theory, embraces both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels. As the team continues to grow, she’s also responsible for the internal communications and puts her diplomas in Motivational Behaviour and NLP to good use by supporting Cathi with employee engagement initiatives making sure that the Para-Sols culture continues to be one that we all love!

Likes:

A clever marketing campaign

Crafts

Thoughtful gifts

Nostalgia

The sound of stuff going up the hoover (weird, we know)

Dislikes:

Alex Buckle

Graduate Paraplanner

Psychology graduate, Alex, joined us in 2017 having successfully applied for our graduate training programme The Grad Scheme. She graduated from Durham University with a 2:1 and her forensic way of thinking and naturally analytical mind is proving to be a key skill as she develops her role in the world of paraplanning! She told us her friends and family are likely to describe her as friendly and hard-working and we have to say, we’d have to agree with them!

Likes:

Dogs

Olives

Fancy Dress

Garlic Bread

Harry Potter

Dislikes:

Sophie McIntosh

Graduate Paraplanner

If there was an award for ‘Best Cover Letter in the History of Para-Sols’, Sophie would be the sure winner. Having applied for our graduate training programme, The Grad Scheme, in 2017, Sophie impressed us with her natural flair for written communication and evidencing the depths of her research on understanding us and the role before compiling a strong application. Now in post, she continues to prove she has what it takes and puts the research and analysis skills she acquired as a History graduate to good use.

Likes:

Dogs

Gin

Lie-ins

Movie musicals

Game of Thrones

Dislikes:

Hannah Douthwaite

Technical Researcher

Drama & Theatre graduate Hannah joined the team in 2017 and took no time in getting her feet under the Para-Sols table. With a background in debt collection and administrator based roles, organisation and data gathering comes naturally and proves advantageous when supporting a very busy team of paraplanners. Hannah focusses on the defined benefit pensions scheme cases and is an integral member of the growing technical research hub.

Likes:

Cats

Baking

Gin

Sunny days

Steak Dinners

Dislikes:

Matthew Corner

Graduate Paraplanner

Matthew, known as Mash (a nickname given to him by his mother to complement his twin brothers, Sam, nickname of “Sausage’) joined the team in 2017 via our graduate training programme, The Grad Scheme. As a Geography graduate and former geologist, he knew his hands were more suited to paraplanning than they were to digging holes. With a family background in financial planning he’s no stranger to the industry and is already putting his skills of compiling research, analysis and report writing to good use and very quickly hit the ground running (no pun intended).